From Jessica McElrath,
Your Guide to African-American History.
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The Disenfranchisement of Southern Blacks

Although the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawed segregation in public places and in public schools, the legislation had failed to adequately address voting rights for blacks. This issue, however, was supposed to have been resolved with the enactment of the 15th Amendment in 1870; it guaranteed that the right to vote could not be infringed upon based on one’s race.

Nevertheless, Southern whites were intent on prohibiting blacks from voting. Initially they used grandfather clauses to restrict the right to vote. By the late 19th century, literacy tests and poll taxes were used to disenfranchise blacks. Under this system, whites were able to register even if they could barely read, while college educated African Americans were unable to pass literacy tests. Poll taxes, on the other hand, discouraged registered blacks from voting with its requirement that a voter pay a tax prior to voting. Consequently, few blacks were able to participate in the political process.

Disenfranchisement in Selma, Alabama

In Selma, Alabama, black disenfranchisement was high. While 99 percent of white residents were registered to vote, the majority of blacks could not vote. In Voices of Freedom, Amelia Boynton Robinson provides an example of the barriers faced in Selma. Boynton was one of the few who had successfully registered to vote. As a result, she was able to use her status to vouch for applicants. She recalled that one applicant she vouched for was rejected when he wrote his name across a line. He disputed with the registrar and continued to fill out the application; upon its completion, he was still rejected.

It was experiences like this that energized the voting rights crusade in Selma. In 1963, the SNCC had begun a campaign to desegregate the downtown and to end discriminatory voter registration practices. By 1964, however, local activists in Selma became restless with the limited progress. Dissatisfied local leaders asked Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC for assistance.

Martin Luther King Takes on Voter Discrimination in Selma

King and the SCLC believed that Selma was the perfect place to force the issue of voting rights. On January 18, 1965, King led 400 marchers to the county courthouse to register to vote. The next day more demonstrators returned to the courthouse. This time violence erupted; as King watched from across the street from the courthouse, he, along with the press, witnessed Sheriff Clark erupt in anger when the demonstrators failed to quickly form a line in the alley. In response, he roughly grabbed demonstrator Amelia Boyton and pushed her into a police car.

The next day, January 19, the marches continued. Registrants were sent to the courthouse in three groups. Sheriff Clark was again agitated by the marchers. When all three groups failed to immediately obey his order to enter the courthouse from a side door, 226 protestors were arrested. The arrests failed to deter further protests. On January 22, more-than-100 teachers marched to the courthouse to demand that the registrar's office open to allow them to register.

On February 1, King again participated in a march. This time he knew that he and the 260 marchers would be arrested for violating the ordinance requiring a permit to parade. As expected, once they reached the courthouse, King and the other demonstrators were arrested. On February 4, King paid his bail after hearing the news that a judge made a favorable ruling for the movement; the registrar was required to process at least 100 applications per day, the arrest of peaceful demonstrators was prohibited, and minor mistakes on applications were to be ignored. Furthermore, President Lyndon B. Johnson publicly announced his support for the voting rights crusade in Selma.